For writers: Dealing with Negative Reviews

My friend wrote this perfect piece about dealing with negative reviews. I wanted to spread it around for any other writers who might be interested.

And as a side note, I don’t bother reviewing books that I don’t finish or care for. I feel like there is enough negativity in the world and I don’t need to make someone feel less about themselves. Especially when I am confident that despite my dislike, there are people out there who will like it and it’s not my place to ruin that for them. There are already quite a few people out there who feel that it is their role in life to correct everyone’s faults (so- called). I have no interest in being one of those people. I am happy to consistently review books I’ve enjoyed.

I say to all writers, keep writing and don’t listen to the naysayers. There’s an audience out there for all of you. Digital hugs!

Enjoy this great article on defeating negativity!!

We are told that reviews are important. Other people see reviews and decide whether or not to invest the dollar or two and take a chance on your unknown work. It has been said that Amazon doesn’t care whether the reviews are good or bad, more is better, and the more reviews your book has, […]

via How To Deal With A Negative Review (For Writers) Part I —

Shout out: Author Kristen Painter

I recently discovered Author Kristen Painter and I am REALLY glad I did. Kristen writes fun paranormal romance without having to detail every little thing and I LOVE that.

In the last 2 weeks I have eaten up her Nocturne Falls series:

Book 1: The Vampire’s Mail Order Bride

Book 2: The Werewolf Meets His Match

Book 3: The Gargoyle Gets His Girl

Book 4: The Professor Woos The Witch

Book 4.5: The Witch’s Halloween Hero

Bok 4.6: The Werewolf’s Christmas Wish (Found in the Hex the Halls anthology)

Book 5: The Vampire’s Fake Fiancée

The characters are bold, wonderful and lovable, the romances are fun, the setting is phenomenal (can you say Nocturne Falls where Halloween is celebrated 365 days a year…yeah – I’m moving.). These are very fast reads and leave you feeling great. Getting the happy happening isn’t always easy but it’s always worth it.

Thanks for so much fun, Kristen!

 

 

Penryn & the End of Days series by Susan Ee

So about three years ago I downloaded Angelfall, book one of the Penryn & the End of Days series by Susan Ee on my beloved Kindle.  The moment I finished the last page I went looking for book two. I was hooked. To my absolute horror, there was no book two as of yet. I ended up looking her up and reading some of her blog.  After seeing that she writes AND makes movies, I guess I was okay that book two wasn’t out yet.

Later on when book two – World After – was released, I snapped it up and read it quickly. Sigh. Then I had to wait for the last book in the series.

On May 12th I woke up thinking about book three – End of Days – and lo and behold my pre-order from weeks prior had downloaded to my Kindle. I was mid another book so didn’t pick it up until a few days ago and I finished it yesterday.

Kudos to Susan Ee for creating a wonderful set of characters and a whole ‘nother world to immerse myself in. Sometimes it was heart breaking and other times it was triumphant. It ended in a happy place and that’s a great place to be.

There are so many books that I need to read, I rarely reread them but I will definitely make an exception for this series. I highly recommend reading this series – you won’t be disappointed.

Dannika Dark – the Seven Series

I pride myself in being the disciplined reader. That means, I read when the chores or work is done, when the children are to bed (ok they’re a little old for that now but still!), when the writing is done or the publishing or whatever the heck it is. Then, I get to read.

Well…I picked up the first book in the series called Seven Years. That was on May 2nd. Then I picked up the second book on May 9th. The fifth, two days ago. I also bought the audio versions and depending on whether I was hunkering down for bed or driving to work, I could “read”. Do you see the pattern here? I have friggin work to do, people.

Seven Years was the first audio book I’ve ever bought. The company I work for recently moved and my drive in the morning went from ten minutes to 25-30. So I thought I would try out an audio book.

Big mistake.

Three books later. No, three AWESOME books later. I now have the burning desire to buy all books this way. Sigh. Thus my need to go look up discipline in the dictionary and remind myself what it is.

So, back to the books. You may be thinking there was a typo since I read book one, book two and then book five. Well, you know how some characters speak to you more than others? Dannika wrote these books to be stand alones. If you know the characters – great, but it’s not required to enjoy the book. I fell in love with many of the characters I met in book one, a couple more than others. I was eager to read book two and five as I wanted to see how those characters that I loved so much would end up. And I was not disappointed.

Dannika Dark has a beautiful way of detailing the characters and giving them so much life that you really get to know them. I hate it when there is soooooo much detail that you are skipping through the paragraphs to get to the good part. Dannika feeds in the details slowly, like moon peaking through the clouds and by the end of the book you have a full  moon shining before you. The plots are fascinating, dramatic, funny, and full of emotion.

There was a paragraph near the end of the second book that was so profound that I read it to my [husband / soulmate / best friend] and couldn’t get through it without choking up. Because it so beautifully described how I felt about him. And oddly, when I finally got through it, he told me that when he was out getting coffee, probably during the very time that I was reading that section for the first time and thinking of him, he was sipping his coffee and thinking of us.

She has a way with words and I wanted to share her hard work. And to top it off, she handles it all herself. She’s an Indie Author who really knows professionalism. If if you read this and enjoy paranormal romance, I sure hope you go pick up one of her books. You won’t be disappointed and you’ll be supporting creative art. Go ahead then. Hook yourself up with some good reading. And don’t forget to eat. And sleep. And get some work done.

Colleen Gleason – The Gardella Vampire Hunter series

Ok, so I’m a little starstruck. I secretly hope that one day, someone feels the same way about me as an author. I read a five book series within two weeks. That meant I read later than I should, that I took one day and did nothing but read and that my family received the fasted meals and conversations that I could get away with while I burned through these books.

I give you…the Gardella Vampire Hunter series by Colleen Gleason (To get it, go HERE and scroll down a bit. Plus at this writing, the first book is FREE on Amazon.)

Book 1: The Rest Falls Away
Book 2: Rises the Night
Book 3: The Bleeding Dusk
Book 4: When Twilight Burns
Book 5: As Shadows Fade

I tend to write by the seat of my pants. I follow the character around and write what I see them doing or saying. Sometimes they get into trouble, sometimes they find love and sometimes I make them go back and start over again because I have no idea what just happened.

I am in the middle of co-writing a book with the amazing Rhiannon Matlock and we’ve planned out the majority of what’s to come which gives a beautiful time line to work from. I aspire to just get close to what Colleen Gleason has done with the Gardella Vampire Hunter series and the planning she must have put into it. She has twists and turns and fun and drama and romance and stuff that makes you cry and morn a deep loss – all of it written by this one truly amazeballs person who came up with this stuff, planned it out and wrote it down for the rest of us to enjoy. And enjoy I did.

So I posted about it. I reviewed it on Goodreads and Amazon. I followed her on FB. I followed her on Twitter and then tweeted about the awesomeness. And then she tweeted me an acknowledgement. I LOVE that. I have only had that happen one other time and that was by another amazeballs author, Kevin Hearne.

I noticed that she had a appearance coming up and would be doing a book signing. In MI. Not only is it really cold there, it’s really far away from me basking in my one week of nice “winter” weather here in Florida. So I am wondering, where can I get a hold of some signed books? I want. So I tweeted a question on that. And while I waited for a response – I notice that she followed me back. SQUEE!! I feel like a rock star. I wonder if she’d ever vacation in Florida and need a place to stay? I could probably find a place for my daughter to live for a few days. <joke honey!>

Anyway, so she answers with the great news that she’d be happy to send sign books (which ones do I want and where are they going so she can figure out price etc.) so I tell my family that this is what I need for Christmas. Sure enough, my son rises to the occasion and the SIGNED books are en route. **YAY!**

Anyway, just want to say READ THIS SERIES NOW. Because it’s fun and adventurous and you need it.

Thank you.

Surprising Emotion:: YA Books by Heather Gunter

NOTE: Emotional chickness following. You have been warned.

I recently picked up YA Novel “Love Notes” by Heather Gunter. I saw it listed in my BookBub email and it looked like a cute young adult romance featuring a girl with low self-esteem finding happiness. You won’t know it by meeting me now but when I was a teenager, I had some very down years with low self-esteem, just knowing that I was not smart and wouldn’t ever really fit it. I was shy and would steer clear of any confrontation – just couldn’t stand up for myself. I once had a bully follow me home after school, I was on my bicycle, and she actually came along side me and kicked my bike. Of course, me and the bike came crashing down though surprisingly I came out ok. She and her posse laughed and called me names and left. I hurried home and never said a word.  So the book blurb spoke to me. I read it in one sitting, a few hours with a cup of tea snuggled in my bed.

Turns out the book wasn’t just about a teen with low self-esteem but about a teen who experienced verbal abuse on a daily basis. Real nasty stuff that made my skin boil. I really did understand. I also really understand the value of a good friend. I was really lucky to have some good friends as a nerdy kid and later found some amazing, supportive friends that I still have to this day. I found a couple in the mix as I went that didn’t really fit the bill, hiding in plain sight while being a verbal abuser of those around. Those ones get kicked to the curb when I find them but I can honestly say I have some of the best friends a girl could have now and quite a few of them. (**Thanks guys, I love you**)

The book really hit a chord with me emotionally as I am sure you can tell. So I, of course, had to pick up book two in the series. “Heartstrings”

Um, yeah, read this one in one morning. The second book featured a girl who had been raped. Now I have actually experienced date rape but when it happened to me, I was so shocked that I didn’t struggle, it really was a surreal moment. He dropped me off at home and I never spoke to him again. Luckily for me, it was not my first time and he wasn’t a brutal, pain lusting freak, no he was just a horny asshole who pushed himself on a shy girl who was caught off guard. I’m so not that girl anymore and it was a sucky moment in my life but it did not have the effect on me like the emotion and broken heart effect that I read in the book “Heartstrings”.  Honestly, I can’t even tell you how many times I had to wipe the tears away so  I could keep reading.

Then at the end, the author shares that she wrote her own story, surviving rape, into the character and you really could feel it. I cried again after I read that. So I just wanted to shout out to all you ladies, and I am sure there are men too that quietly have had horrid experiences like this, you are survivors – not victims and I for one am proud for each and every one of you who has dusted off your knees, given the finger to the past and moved on to create a future that makes you happy. **Well done.**

 

Priceless by Shannon Mayer

All right, I found a new addiction, as in author I love and stay up too late reading…

Those of you who know me, know I am very disciplined as far as my schedule goes. I am a cranky bitch when I’m tired or when I need to eat. It’s just one of those annoying things about me.  I would like to be one of those people who can forget about eating until dinner. Me? I would either keel over from low blood sugar or rip your eyes out. Both options suck, therefore I eat at least six times a day and make sure my ass is in bed and lights out before midnight.

I started reading Priceless by Shannon Mayer mid-last week. I picked it up through BookBub (which if you’re not subscribed to, I recommend highly).

And couldn’t put it down.

Bad Lisa! I forced my kindle down on “school nights” but Friday and Saturday? Stayed up. Needless to say, I bought all the remaining books in the series. I burned through Book 2 (Immune) between yesterday and today and started Book 3 (Raising Innocence) today. Sigh. So good. [What chores? Oh, you wanted dinner? What’s wrong with cereal? Damn, do I have any clean underwear?]

If you like books like the Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs or the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, then I really think this series will be up your ally. I’m not going to explain what it’s about, you can check it out here though and then go buy it at Amazon.

Further, Mrs. Mayer inspires me to be a better writer. Have more fun with my characters. And a lot of other things. I even followed her blog which I rarely do. So go now. To Amazon and get a hold of Priceless. And enjoy the ride. xo

Elemental Mysteries by Elizabeth Hunter

Fuck me, I enjoyed that book.

Admittedly, I was low on funds last week and after finishing my last Kindle book, I needed something to read. I went to the freebies and browsed through, downloading 3-4 possibilities. One of them was called A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter. I was turned off by the cover (a haze of bare chest over teaming bookshelves) but the term ‘Elemental Mysteries’ was intriguing (I also read the blurb on it but frankly have no recollection of what it said).

I ended up reading one of the other books first which was enjoyable but nothing special for me. So I ‘cracked’ open A Hidden Fire. As I said, fuck me, I enjoyed that book. I finished it just before 2am last night. For those that know me, you know I am one of the most disciplined readers around. I go to bed by midnight and start the next day early. But I didn’t want to put this book down.

Elizabeth Hunter not only has created a fascinating story of intrigue and mystery but a beautiful romantic twist. You get inside the characters heads, learn to love them, faults and all. The dark sides of the characters come out while you get into the twist and turn of their lives and the mystery that has brought them together.

I only hope that readers enjoy my upcoming first book release as much as I enjoyed this one. I’ve already purchased Book two of the series and am fighting myself about whether or not getting the laundry done and working on book two of my own series is more important than what happens next in this fantastic series. Alas, my rational side is winning and the laundry is rolling…I will start book two tonight (hums with anticipation).

 

Book Review: HP Mallory

Just discovered HP Mallory. I picked up the book To Kill a Warlock on a whim, having no information on the author. Took me no time to finish it and, yes, I bought the second in the series  immediately after turning the last page on my Kindle. The book was very easy to read, has very likable characters, the lead character, Dulcie, is a fairy who kills plants but kicks butt as a Regulator, which could be compared to a cop but for the supernatural. It’s funny, quirky and I really enjoyed the book. I’d like to say more but I just got called in from my day off to work on an emergency…

So if you enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse series or Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, than this series is a sure thing. 🙂 Here’s a link: http://hpmallory.com/dulcie-oneil-series/

Enjoy!

Something Witchy This Way Comes by Veronica Blade

A friend of mine recommended this YA novel. I checked it out from the kindle library but was mowing through another series and didn’t get to it before it expired. This past weekend I finished another series and was reminded of it so I picked it up.

Loved it.

If you enjoy reading YA, read it. I’ll write more about it later but I’m on my kindle at the moment and it’s a pain in the arse to write anything lengthy.

Cheers!